Tanker Crippled in Gulf Air Attack
The crew of the Greek supertanker Ethnic abandoned ship after it was crippled Friday in an apparent air attack by Iran east of Qatar, shipping sources in the region said.
The 125,947-ton tanker was hit by a missile while heading for the Saudi Arabian Gulf port of Ras Tannurah to load crude oil, the sources said.
Most sources said said there were no casualties among the crew. The vessel’s boilers were put out of action. A fire was quickly brought under control.
The attack occurred about 30 miles off Qatar’s Halul Island in the south-central gulf in an area where Iran has been blamed for other tanker attacks this year.
A total of about 45 merchant vessels have been hit so far this year in the so-called tanker war, an extension of their nearly six-year-old ground conflict.
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